Monday, February 16, 2009

I took Einstein up to Tomales to pick up a 100 extra small oysters from the Tomales Bay Oyster Company for the party. Knowing once I got to Ray's the drinking would be non-stop I decided to get a run in. I went to a trail along the coastline above RCA's. While short, maybe 3 miles, it was a wild run. The wind was howling 40+ and waves were pounding the cliffs. And a BIG thanks to Jes. She gave me a pair of hand-me-down trail shoes which really helped support my ankles.

Later that evening we all got in the Jacuzzi while it was pouring rain. Ray, always the gracious host, was concerned that our cocktails would get too watered down with the rain and provided us with large multi-colored umbrellas...it was kind of surreal. When was the last time you saw a group of people in a jacuzzi sipping cocktails, holding umbrellas over there heads in pouring rain?

Today, it was back to Ocean Beach for more kitesurfing. While I was between the middle and outer sandbar the wind started to die as a large set was rolling in. It was easier to head out to sea than try and out run the waves..And while I was out there, like a submarine surfacing, I spotted a Great White Shark not 60 yards from me...it's the first time I have ever seen one in person! It was just motoring along with its black dorsal standing a good two and half feet above the water. Unfortunately, with the wind dying, I wasn't in any condition to greet him and thank him for not eating me all those times I'm sure he could have. I will always remember him though.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

I didn't make the pillow fight, which I heard was 6,000 attendees strong this year...

After wasting my time with a bunch of tire-kickers I finally sold my SUP board yesterday morning. Randomly it was a kiter from Santa Cruz that ended up buying it. After he looked at the board I invited him and his friend down to Ocean Beach to go kiting and we got some epic surf...hence why I missed the pillow fight.

Ocean Beach gave me the best Valentine's Day present...south swell in the 8+ range and side-shore winds with no rain. A couple hours into it my knee locked up on me (an old miniscus injury) when I hit a lip too late on some shore break and got slammed to the sand...dude! Fortunately JG was there to help me hop out of the water and after a minute the knee unlocked and I was back on the water again.

I thought I might try and kite again today but it's massive...Matt has aptly described it as looking like there are Lock Ness Monsters all over the place. Instead, I'm heading to Bolinas to shuck oysters and sit out the gale.

Friday, February 13, 2009

There ain't no full moon tonight...in fact there isn't any moon tonight, it's just rainy and cold. I've had "Wonderwall" in my head for days. I never I liked Oasis, but I really like this song these days and enjoy singing and playing it on my acoustic guitar. I told Jes and she recommended I listen to the whole album, '(What's the Story) Morning Glory'. So after a couple martinis with my favorite Bombay Gin, I did, and I'm not impressed. Wonderwall was the best song by far, perhaps a one-hit- wonder...no disrespect intended Oasis fans. But I was then reminded of Yer So Bad, off of Full Moon Fever. Why did Wonderwall lead me to Yer So Bad? It may have had something to do with Jes' rants about how fabulous midget wrestling is and how much she wants to bring a midget home. So in honor of Yer So Bad, I listened to the Full Moon Fever album. Holy Shit! There are a lot of overplayed songs and a lot of overplayed albums, FMF being one of them. But it's a phenomenal album. And it still jerks my soul in 2009. Thank you Mr. Petty.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The last several days I moved out of my apartment of 4 years, quite my job of 4 years, cleaned my apartment...it's been about 4 years, scrambled to put together Korean visa documents before the deadline, moved into my brother's house, and have been squeezing in as much surfing and kiting at OB as I can before moving away...exhausting.

Jes invited me to join her for a short day trip to the Pinnacles.It turns out it was a good day to visit the Pinnacles...we saw a total of 4 other hikers, the weather was warm, and relatively dry and the sunset was pristine. I got to check out (by check out i mean look at and climb a few feet high) a couple climbing routes too. I recently took up bouldering at my local gym which I'm enjoying a lot and hope too continue in Seoul. I was surprised by how sharp and aggressive real rock is to the hand compared to the gym...but then that's how most things are outside of a gym.

We summited the High Peaks Trail by sundown and then turned around. I suggested to Jes instead of driving home we cross over to the bay of Monterey for the evening and check out the Aquarium the following day...so we did. I love the Aquarium...the Jellyfish, Sea Dragons, and schools of Pacific Sardines were by far my favorite. I also tried a lot of the interactive exhibits and loved how clever they were put together...I'm putting 'building interactive science exhibits' on my list of future jobs i would love to have.

The food, true to tourist traps, was bad at Cannery Row...but I'm not gonna complain about tourist trap food anymore, I'm just going to compare it to other tourist trap food, which in this case, was okay.

Now I'm back and I'm hoping the 10 day forecast for rain is San Francisco is wrong. I'm actually considering leaving the coast and chasing some snow in the mountains for day or two...